Talk:SorryNotSorry/@comment-3575890-20160722203136
DISCLAIMER: Not a Rucas friendly post. I'm about to dish out some major Rucas vs Riarkle meta, so if you don't want to hear anything constructively bad about your ship, you might want to scroll past this. It’s no secret that I think that Riarkle is a zillion times better than Rucas, thematically, compatibly, emotionally, and historically, and they are one reason I dropped the Rucas ship, but not the only one. I expected Rucas to grow together, but they’ve been at a standstill since the first episode. Emotionally and mentally, with Lucas, Riley is still in the library holding onto his every word, but barely contributing to the conversation from episode two of season one. A time that long predates the present of which everybody around Riley and Lucas has grown exponentially except them because they are so stuck on the past. Truthfully, Riley and Lucas HAVE evolved as individuals since the pilot. It’s just that they have yet to embrace those changes the way that their friends have (save for Maya whom welcomed change until Riley gaslighted her into believing that her maturation into a more responsible and stable young woman was somehow bad for her and now has been overcorrected to the point that she’s regressed completely to her season one self) and that is because they are both terrified of change. Lucas danced around the triangle for years because he couldn’t cope with the prospect of his choice changing the group dynamic and Riley refuses to grow out of her princess-complex that compels her to hold out for a fairytale-inspired romance with an enchanting prince, which she still problematically views Lucas as. Lucas, on the other hand, is stuck on Smiley Riley and doesn’t seem to have much interest in getting to know her beyond that. It’s because for all intents and purposes, Riley is an idyllic fantasy as well. She encompasses everything he admires and wishes he could be. He keeps her on a pedestal and is afraid to know her beyond the perfect surface image he has inside of his head for fear of it shattering because he cannot cope with Riley being anyone else but Smiley Riley. This is blatantly alluded to in Girl Meets The Other Side. On the other hand, he’s all too eager at work of peeling back the layers of Maya’s personality. The contrast of Lucas’ one-dimensional perception of Riley versus his multi-faceted psychoanalytical look at Maya is actually quite jarring. He sees Maya for all she is, but only acknowledges and appreciates a fraction of who Riley is. In his defence, it’s not that he erases the rest of the Riley puzzle. That would require him to know the other pieces. He doesn’t and he hasn’t put forth the effort to attain that knowledge. Point black, it’s abundantly clear to me that Lucas is deeply invested in Maya, as opposed to being invested in the idea of Riley, although he certainly cares for her. The question is, to what magnitude relative to his feelings for Maya? I believe the same applies to Riley as well. Her desire to be with Lucas is motivated by her idyllic vision of him that matches up with her life-long fantasy of being swept off her feet by a handsome prince - an ideology she still has yet to grow out of - BUT the problem is that Lucas really isn’t that person. This is clearly illuminated in her fantasy in which the entire time Lucas behaves NOTHING like himself. This is because what Riley actually wants is the dreamboat she’s spent three years perfecting in her head; not the actual reality, which doesn’t match up with the fantasy, and to be honest, would probably seem a little underwhelming with the absence of that lens to her. Lucas isn’t a hopeless romantic sap. If spoilers of future episodes serve any indication, he’s not very big on grandiose gestures of romance. Riley wants a ride-or-die can’t-live-without-you star-crossed romance when in actuality, Lucas can’t even make sense of what and who he wants. It is clear that she is not okay with the triangle and with sharing Lucas’ affections because honestly, what girl would want that? Especially a hopeless romantic like Riley whom believes that every body gets one love to be written in the stars forever. (Stars. Hmm, what does that remind me of?) Riley has an admittedly childish perception of love inspired by fairytalesque hyper-idealistic love-at-first-sight and forever tripe. That’s understandable enough. She is afterall only a young girl whom still has a lot to learn about how life actually works, but nonetheless, she projects this onto Lucas. An unhealthy infatuation that’s fostered an unrealistic dream inside of her head that’s setting her up for one of the greatest pitfalls of her life so far. This is pure self-sabotage that while will have its fallout, will also force Riley to grow up. I believe this is the purpose that Rucas has always been meant to serve. Another point worth mentioning is that Lucas does match up to Riley’s idealistic standard of a kind and gentle-mannered disposition, but he also has a vicious temper akin to Maya’s that turns those formerly pacifistic qualities right on its head the moment he’s provoked, and this is the immediate point of which Riley’s fantasy matching to the reality ends. Not to dabble into bias, but I feel that he’s shown he’ll go to greater lengths for Maya than for Riley; in actuality, what has he done for Riley really that’s worth noting? At least since early season one? He’s mostly strung her along for three years only ever making an effort to establish a relationship with her whenever other boys enter the picture, which pretty much highlights the obvious concept that his ego is ultimately what drives their relationship. This speaks volumes about somebody whose been shown to favor the best friend of the girl he’s repeatedly alluded to having an unspoken unofficial romantic entanglement with, but whose actions have never substantiated that claim. Lucas IS protective of his friends, but hardly the chivalrous white knight Riley wants. Truthfully, Riley is still stuck on the one and only moment that Lucas truly roleplayed as the prince of her dreams three years ago when he called her a princess and sat her upon a white horse. It was cute, no doubt, but it was a one-off that planted a misleading idea of who Lucas is in Riley’s head, which is why she could not cope with his past once she learned there was more to him than what met her rose-colored vision. Now, who DOES actually fit Riley’s prototypical ideal? Whom is an ACTUAL prince? Farkle-fucking-Minkus, that’s who! Farkle has proven time and time again that what Lucas can’t do for Riley, can’t be for Riley, HE can and is. Farkle knows Riley just as well as Maya does. He knows all of her adorable quirks and idiosyncrasies and loves her for them, but beyond that, he also knows her dreams, insecurities, fears, the surrounding darkness gradually closing in on the light. He’s completely attune to her feelings. He knows when she’s hurting underneath the facade of Smiley Riley, when she wants to be saved versus when she would rather save herself, and he knows exactly what to say and do in those times to make everything better. And though Farkle isn’t the most ept social creature, he does know a thing or two about romance. Not only is he a romantic sweet talker (”That giggle is my favorite sound in the world”, “You. Me. Mars.”, “Pluto will always be a planet in my bedroom.”) and not shy to profess declarations of love (”I’ve loved Riley since the first grade.” “And I love you.”), he truly grasps what love is even if he thinks he doesn’t understand it. To exemplify this point further, he understands that you don’t lie to the ones you love, he understands the importance of placing faith in those you love and being their biggest fan to cheer them on even when the odds are NOT in their favor (”How much faith do you have in her?” “As much as always.”), that trust and communication are the cornerstones of a healthy relationship, and foremost, he understands what it means to put the person you love before yourself. He steps down for the sake of Riley’s happiness at the expense of his own; a stark contrast to Lucas continually interjecting himself between Riley and other romantic prospects when they appear. Farkle loves selflessly and conditionlessly, while Lucas bases his feelings ON conditions, mulling over the pros and cons, happenstance, ideology, logic- basically anything completely discombobulated with what true love is about. Now, Farkle may claim that he’s always loved Riley and Maya equally, and this I do not deny, but he clearly has a different love for each of them. Mark my words, if Riley had chosen Farkle over Lucas, she would not have been kept on the hook by Farkle. There’d be no three years of this The Bachelor bullshit. He’d count his blessings she loved him back. Maya would not even be a romantic option for him pitted up against Riley. He said it himself once. “There’s only you.” Farkle is also very much the picture of the kind and gentle-mannered prince of Riley’s dreams more so than Lucas. Or shall we say, Texas Lucas? Unlike Lucas who needs to be RESTRAINED when angry, Farkle is very composed. He has the ability to think and act sensibly, even when his emotions are heightened. He’s a lover, not a fighter. Now, like Lucas, he IS protective, but rather than wanting to tear somebody’s head off when anybody hurts somebody he loves, anger is substituted with concern for the person he wants to protect and motivation to help them. Lucas’ way of protecting people he loves is fighting for and defending their honor. His methods are rooted in vengeance, anger, and justice. Farkle is about protecting their feelings. He is motivated by his desire to make the other person feel better. This is the key difference: when somebody hurts Riley, Lucas wants to tear them apart. With Farkle, when somebody hurts Riley, he wants to console and hold her until she feels safe. Not only did he ‘save her life’ (at least according to the judgment of a six-year old little girl, lol) at the inception of their friendship, but he’s continually come to her rescue. Not with teeth bared and fists clenched, but open arms and soothing words of assurance. This is what Riley needs and wants in a protector. Somebody whom is completely and exclusively focused on her and her feelings when she’s hurting rather than their own feelings (IE: anger at the situation or person responsible for why the person they love is hurting) about the situation. With Farkle, there’s no idealism distorted by rose-colored goggles. She knows him inside and out as he does her. It’s just that right now she’s too wrapped up in her fantasy that she’s attributed to Lucas based on superficial first impressions to realize that her fantasy prince has already manifested in the form of her best male friend whom actually lives up to the fantasy.